When Is It a Good Idea To Go All In?
Happy Leap Day!
This leap day has me thinking about progress. Anyone who has worked with me knows that I am a proponent of slow and steady changes. (Notice I didn’t say slow and steady PROGRESS, but slow and steady CHANGE. Small choices, made consistently over time, have a cumulative effect. But the tangible progress that results from those changes might feel like it’s coming in stops and starts.)
But today I’m going to make an argument for the opposite approach. There are times when a big leap is the right choice. A leap in a new direction; a leap into charting a new course; or taking a leap by enlisting new support.
Sometimes a leap isn’t a 180, or starting from scratch, but instead the act of committing to a direction you’ve already been moving in; to stop dipping your toes in the pool and dive in head first. Starting yoga teacher training, back in 2012, was one of those leaps for me. I didn’t realize it at the time- I had been pretty consistent with my yoga practice already for years. But nothing can prepare you for the change that occurs when you dive into a 5 hour-a-day immersion, 2 or more full practices daily, daily meditation, journaling, discussions around yogic philosophy- it was most certainly a LEAP into a new world. That leap resulted in a very new me. Or perhaps more accurately, a rebirth of the very core of me. And making such a big shift, with so much intention, work, and support behind it, was incredible. I was set permanently, and happily, down a completely different path in my life.
Leaping into something with both feet and your whole heart can be transformational. It can create a level of momentum that propels you past blocks and barriers that previously stymied you. Immersing yourself keeps it front of mind in your brain- encouraging new connections and insights, helping you see how what you’re learning can be applied to every aspect of your life.
But those leaps also ask more of you. They can feel overwhelming. If not undertaken with consideration for its effects or the proper level of support, it can be such a shock to the system that you give up on the change altogether. So, how do you know when a leap is a good idea, vs. when it’s better to start by just dipping a toe?
For me personally, a leap I need to take will happen almost of its own volition. It is always predicated by an impulse. An overwhelming drive to ‘do the thing.’ It often isn’t logical. It usually feels like ‘the thing I want to leap for’ is asking just a tad too much from me- too much money, too much time, too much faith, too much energy. My brain usually tells me: “This could be a mistake. So many things could go wrong. I don’t think we can afford the financial, temporal, energetic expense!” My heart will reply: “I don’t care; it makes me feel alive.” My soul whispers: “I can’t make promises about the outcome, I just know I need to do this.” They will both tell my brain “we’ll figure it out.” And when I’ve followed my heart and soul in these moments, not once have I ever, ever regretted it.
This is not to say I’ve never chosen to stick with dipping a toe or staying out of the water altogether! Many a time I have decided against the leap and been happy I did. But those moments look and feel noticeably different. The leap doesn’t feel like just a tad too much- it feels like a paralyzing too much. The leap is toward something I’ve never once had a need, desire, or thought about before until some slick marketing or influential friend enticed me. I get very excited about the leap for a short period of time, but it easily leaves my mind once the stimulus is gone. Or I realize that the ‘leap’ is a means to an end, rather than a standalone desire in and of itself.
How to determine whether it’s time to take a leap
Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine whether a big step is the right move for you right now:
Is this something you’ve been thinking about for a while? Even when the actual action of taking a leap has seemed impulsive or out of nowhere, or was inspired by a message from someone else, I can usually connect it to a seed that was planted long before or a thought that has been racking my brain for a while.
Have you been feeling stuck? Sometimes the neural pathways of our current habits are so strongly ingrained that equally strong action is required to effectively redirect them.
Do you feel like you’re getting solid benefits out of your current course? If so, the desire for change may not be strong enough to keep you going through the challenges that come with a commitment to rapid expansion.
When you look at the situation objectively, can you live with the risks and ‘what ifs’? When you look at what you’re actually risking if you took this leap, could you tolerate it? I would also encourage you to remember that you can probably course correct if you realize down the road that it really wasn’t the right choice for you. In reality, most leaps are not all-or-nothing, irreversible decisions. If some of the risks feel scary, consider how permanent they would be, or if the losses could be recovered.
Do you trust yourself? When we’re fearing a big decision, whether we move forward or not often comes down to how much we trust ourselves. Do we trust ourselves enough to know what we want and need? Do we trust ourselves to go after the things we want and need? Do we trust that we’re capable of growing and expanding to meet new commitments? And do we trust in our ability to figure things out if it all goes wrong?
As human beings, it’s natural for us to be conservative when venturing into the unknown. I’d actually argue that if it doesn’t feel a bit scary, is it even a leap? Learning when to jump and when to tread lightly is something we each need to learn for ourselves. Often, slow and steady really does win the race. 1% each day eventually compounds into a completely new ‘us’.
But sometimes, the wall is too towering for us to exhaust ourselves taking baby steps before witnessing any progress. Or we need a decisive commitment that draws a line in the sand to focus us, signaling a clear intention to move towards a new direction. Or it might just feel like an opportune time to wholeheartedly jump in and embrace a transformative experience. In these moments, taking the leap really is the better way forward. The courage and determination we cultivate in that moment can fuel us far past our previously held limits and uncover inner potential that we didn’t know we had.
I always say that spring is an ideal time for taking a big leap. It can often feel easier to embrace growth and change when we’re moving in concert with the natural world around us. In the northern hemisphere, spring is just around the corner. What are you feeling inspired to leap into when it finally arrives?
Fun fact! Did you know that it’s called ‘leap year’ because rather than set dates falling one day of the week later as they usually do, they will fall two days later? (So if your birthday was on a Monday last year, while it would normally fall on a Tuesday the following year, this year it will fall on a Wednesday.) I never realized that before even though it seems so obvious now that I know. I love it when words make sense.